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The Tánaiste has vowed to pursue social media companies as far as he can after being hit by a second fake cryptocurrency attack online.
Micheál Martin has confirmed he is now perusing “false and defamatory” ads that were posted about him on social media site X last month.
Mr Martin, who was forced to seek a separate court order against Google in relation to scam cryptocurrency ads late last year, has said online abuse and the targeting of politicians is “at a level that we haven’t experienced before in Ireland”.
Hitting out at social media companies for taking money from entities that put out damaging fake ads, Mr Martin said: “This is an issue that Government has to return to with a sharper focus and will have to engage with the companies across social media, in respect of the integrity of elections, I think it is a very important issue and it’s a key issue.”
It is understood that a number of cryptocurrency scam ads were posted on social media site X in the lead-up to the referendum votes in March.
The ads included links to fake news articles that resembled mainstream media websites and went as far as wrongly including bylines from reporters who worked for established news organisations.
Mr Martin said: “We are now analysing that material and it’s taking some time. It’s been forensically analysed as to the source of that. That work is currently underway on my behalf so we have made no further decisions in respect of how further we will take it, we have to first of all analyse.”
Speaking to reporters in Armagh, he added: “Some people say ‘they are obviously fake’, but the point is there is a broader story here, citizens get caught up in some of this and invest and can lose funding.
“But also we do need to know who is behind all of this and why are the social media companies taking the revenue? These are ads that are defamatory, that are false. So I think I have an obligation to the public good to try and pursue this as far as I can.”
Pointing to the fact that he had to go to court to seek information on a “very basic level” from Google, Mr Martin said: “As a Deputy Prime Minister of the Government to have to go to those lengths to actually get some basic information as to who’s behind these fake ads, and false and defamatory ads, I think doesn’t augur well for the citizens’ capacity to do likewise.”
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